LEBANON: Unexploded ordnance still a hazard

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More than two years after the end of the war with Israel, land mines and cluster munitions left over from the conflict are still leading to casualties in the south of Lebanon.

On Tuesday, a U.N. de-mining expert was killed in an explosion during an official mission in a field near Lebanon’s border with Israel, according to a U.N. spokesperson.

‘He [the U.N. peacekeeper] died of an explosion during an unexploded ordnance disposal mission in the vicinity of the village of Aitaroun,’ U.N. spokeswoman Yasmina Bouzianne said. ‘A medical team was immediately dispatched to the location and an investigation is underway.’

The victim, who was identified by Belgian authorities as one of their nationals, was part the approximately 13,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping contingent in southern Lebanon since the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ended in 2006.

The Belgian defense ministry said the dead soldier was Stefaan Vanpeteghem, 35, a married father of two who had been in Lebanon since June.

Last year, a French soldier with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) died while clearing unexploded ordnance.

Southern Lebanon remains covered with cluster munitions that occasionally explode with deadly effect, mainly among villagers. According to the latest U.N. figures, 258 civilians have been injured or killed by the leftover ordnance from the end of the 2006 war.

And the casualties will probably continue. U.N. officials say that only half of the unexploded ordnance has been cleared.

Large patches of land in south Lebanon have been contaminated by more than 1 million cluster bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes, mostly during the last days of the conflict. People in the south, who rely mainly on agriculture for their income, were badly affected as many could not return to their land.

Money for clearing munitions is drying up. U.N. officials have sounded the alarm. A spokeswoman for the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Center told AFP last week that many of the de-mining teams would have to stop their work soon because of a lack of money.

‘Our productivity in clearing contaminated areas will be cut by 50% at the end of the month when the teams stop their work,’ Dalya Farran told the news agency, adding that the 2008 budget was short $4.7 million.

‘And 2009 is a whole other story. Without funding, we will have to stop all the teams,’ she said.

— Raed Rafei in Beirut

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